Citing teen’s rescue, officials say wireless alerts vital

SACRAMENTO  San Diego County’s emergency services director and top legislative leaders on Monday urged Californians not to disable their wireless emergency feature over problems with the first-ever statewide Amber Alert sent to mobile devices after the abduction of Lakeside teen Hannah Anderson.

“I want to encourage everyone listening or watching: Do not opt out of this system. It could save your life,” said Holly Crawford, the county official.

Acting on a tip from horseback riders, FBI agents rescued the 16-year-old Anderson Saturday afternoon and killed her alleged abductor, James DiMaggio, at a campsite in a remote wilderness area in Idaho. He is also suspected of killing her brother and mother, whose remains were found in a burned down home in East County.

Authorities across California received complaints that the alert issued last week to help find Anderson was too shrill, provided too little information and involved a case too far away from home to have any immediate impact.

The text-like warnings are issued directly to newer smartphones, much like the alerts broadcast over television. Cellphone users can opt out by disabling the feature through their settings.

Separately in San Diego, Brett Anderson briefly referred to the controversy during a news conference called to thank those who helped rescue his daughter.

“There are many missing children. And though some of you might find the Amber Alert annoying, please pay attention. Keep your eyes open. Let’s bring those children home. No one should have to go through this,” he said.

Robert Hoever, director of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, said the use of the wireless warning helped spread the word of Anderson’s kidnapping across state lines, including to Idaho.

“That Amber Alert was critical in the safe recovery of Hannah,” Hoever said.

At a news conference Monday, Crawford and Hoever joined Assembly Speaker John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and others to emphasize the importance of the new Wireless Emergency Alerts system for not just finding missing children, but also issuing warnings of other pending emergencies, from fires to floods.

“My biggest worry is that people will opt out of everything and, when I need to send a particular emergency message to people so they can protect themselves, I’m not going to be able to reach them,” Crawford said.

Said Perez, “Californians need to know that by opting out they could be trading a moment’s annoyance for the possibility of real harm to themselves and their families, In fact, opting out... could actually be a matter of life and death.”

Perez said he will ask federal authorities responsible for the system to swiftly make improvements to address the complaints over a jarring screech sound, multiple messages, limited information and no Internet links for more information. He also wants the system to permit more than the current cap of 90 characters so additional information is available immediately.

Also, cellphone users should be able to set their emergency alerts differently, such as temporarily turning off Amber Alerts but still allowing warnings of disasters that could directly affect them.

“We know the technology exists to make refinements,” he said.

Hoever is also pleading with Californians to keep the warnings active on their phones.

“The eyes and ears of many are more effective than the eyes and ears of a few,” he said.

Hoever said the Amber Alert system can be credited with rescuing 650 children across the country over the years.